Weather.com was partially right today in its predictions. Because it had said it would rain most of the day, we planned to stay in town & get out when showers slowed down. Well, all we really had in the way of precipitation was some light sprinkles this morning right after breakfast, & we strolled this nice little town during them. I used my new warm gloves, but by afternoon, I had shed them & my scarf. It got up to the low 60's with sunshine. Turned out to be a beautiful day, but we didn't change our plans. It was nice just walking & taking in all the sights. Lots of riverboats stop & start here, so this is a bit of a tourist town, but we walked past all that today & saw some actual neighborhoods.
For the first time, we were able to have a soup only lunch. We haven't been able to order that way, but a bistro we found today offered soups & sandwiches al la carte, so I had broccoli & Dave had tomato soup. For dinner, we found a place that served a big salad & pizza, & we shared both. A taste of American eating for a change.
We went to a wine cellar recommended by the tourist info office & got quite an education on Mosel wines. This valley is super steep as seen in these pictures:
I asked to taste a red, & the owner told us that the climate here precludes good red grape growing. He did pour us one red that he likened to Pinot Noir, but it was fairly weak-tasting, no real good flavors. So we switched to their speciality--whites, & we found one we liked, so we bought a couple of bottle to take to Dana & Chris. We were told that it was illegal to even grow red grapes until 1985! This is the cellar:
He explained further that the steep hills are at 90 degrees to the sun, so they get much more sunlight than if they were flat. That plus the reflection off the Mosel makes the grapes of a higher quality. The slate in the hills gives the whites much of their flavor. We did taste some new wine touted at all the wine shops. It was pink, & thank goodness for small tastes, because it tasted like the cough syrup I remember from childhood!
We've watched the making of waffles, & they start with a dough that looks like bread dough--very stiff & firm. It's kept in balls, & then put into the irons like that. The maker then pats it down & forces the ball flat before lowering the top of the iron. It's amazing they come out so light & fluffy.
You don't need a watch in this town, because the bells ring on every quarter hour. Once, for each 15 minute segment after the hour plus the usual gongs straight up on the hours. It could drive one crazy especially if your hotel was next door to one of the 2 bell-ringing churches. At noon & 6 pm, it seems to go on forever, a concert if you will. At first, I liked it, but now not so much. Here they go right now......
Sights around town today:
I have decided most of the red hair dye jobs are a way to hide the gray hairs. Here's another one spotted today:
There's a swan that floats on the river near the town square, & today I saw it on land just walking around the square mingling with the people, none of whom seemed impressed. I, of course, took this picture:
If this post seems haphazard & disjointed, I'll blame it on the hotel's wifi---it's been spotty, off & on, the entire time I've been writing. Sorry.
Tomorrow, we'll visit the castle Eltz, Rick Steves' favorite in all of Europe. Now that's a big buildup!
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Technology is great when it works.....
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